When we talk about technology, we tend to think of physical components, but advancements in software are also an important aspect of technology. Having powerful hardware is important, of course, but using it smartly is equally vital when producing modern entertainment products.

On that note, we introduce...

The Sliced Bread Award for Most Impressive Advancement in Video Game Technology

2013 was a great year for technology nerds. We're at the tail end of one console generation, so game developers have become experts at squeezing every last drop of power out of the aging hardware, but at the same time they have been set loose on the next generation of gaming machines. On top of that, gaming on PCs, phones, and tablets has also advanced.

Which games have made you nod with appreciation at their technical brilliance this year?

The first that comes to mind for me is Grand Theft Auto V. No other game has come close to producing that level of complexity and depth in an open world on such old hardware. As I said in my review, many critics joked that with GTA V the next generation arrived early, and nobody actually needed the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. So many cars and people, all acting intelligently, moving around a vast, seamless world.

Not too far behind is Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. This is a series that has always featured worlds broken up into large pieces, requiring a loading screen when moving across the border from one to another. Black Flag is the first to feature a single gigantic world that makes up the vast majority of the game. Big cities and some other important locations are separate levels, but most of the time you'll be sailing, attacking ships, swimming ashore, visiting shops, taking on assassination contracts, killing targets, and more, all without a single loading screen. It's all very pretty, sure, but it's the seamlessness of the experience that most impresses me.

A more subtle example, which is a clever behind-the-scenes achievement rather than an obvious graphical one, is the Drivatar feature in Forza Motorsport 5 on the Xbox One. As you play, the game is constantly studying your driving style and building up a model of your behaviour, which is then uploaded to the cloud and distributed to other people's machines. When they race in single-player mode, instead of a generic AI they have a unique and convincingly human driver in every car. It makes for a much more compelling and enjoyable driving experience, and I'm a big fan.

Okay readers, over to you. What game technology has blown you away this year? Are you impressed by the new Kinect voice controls, or have you been lucky enough to have a go on the Oculus Rift VR headset? If it happened in 2013, I want to hear about it. Please enter your nominations in the comments below.

GTA5 - showing there's life in the old girl yet . so many little touches in the game that will go unoticed by many . there is just too much for one player to see and hear everything

Bioshock infinate- I thought the 1st 20 minutes was a real technical acheivement . I have never spent the 1st half hour of a game mesmerised by just walking before . Walking through Columbia for the 1st time was just handled perfectly . looked and sounded amazing .

Commenter

Mongey

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 8:25AM

Unoriginal, but I'd have to go for GTA V as well. As Lost Dog mentioned above, to bring such rich content to the screen from such a large and well-populated world without loading screens is just amazing.

Commenter

Swordfactor

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 9:10AM

Going for an outlier here - Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations. In development forever under the much cooler name 'Red Pill', it's a modern warfare simulation that lets you play with the entire armed forces of every country in the world over the last 50 years. From Superhornets to Soviet era Typhoon class subs to tactical nukes. Every missile, vehicle and radar system operate pursuant to real-world physics; Mountains create radar shadows to conceal your approach, active sonars will give away the position of your submarine.

In the wargame universe there is always a race to develop more detailed games in finer and finer detail - but C:MANO has taken it to a 1:1 scale that is really an incredible technical achievement.

Commenter

Sam

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 9:14AM

GTA5 for me. It's too amazing.

Commenter

Happyburger

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 11:50AM

Seriously, the artistic genius that people still bring to 'traditional' things we take for granted. Look at Monaco, a top-down game with supposedly 8-bit Pacman aesthetics but does so so so much.

Also, Amnesia Machine For Pigs - it's a beautifully horrific journey that due to its setting evokes classic Victorian literature.

Your open world games can get stuffed :)

Commenter

Leigh

Date and time

December 11, 2013, 8:09PM

Another vote for GTA 5, just too easy.

My other suggestion is Xbox SmartGlass, that is a great interface.

Commenter

Knotpossible

Date and time

December 12, 2013, 6:04PM

I really want smart glass or something similar to hit PC. Even in its most basic form of an alternate map view or inventory management without having to pause I would love that thing